Low floor,high return: New buses keep DTC smiling

“Our collections have improved over the last few months,” said a senior DTC official. As per the figures provided by the department,the collections for low-floor buses have risen to Rs 41,000 per bus per day from last year’s less than Rs 35,000 per bus per day at peak hours.

“The collection for air-conditioned buses during peak summer was as much as Rs 48,000 per day per bus. Now it has gone down by about Rs 6,000 per day due to the change in weather,” he said.

These collections are according to the current fare structure,which will be altered after November 1,as per Monday’s decision of the Delhi Cabinet on the fare-hike.

“We have managed to bring down the operational costs,which are a major reason for our cash deficit,” said an official.

While the operational cost is about Rs 85 crore per month,officials say through revenue generation and fare collection,the department can manage only Rs 35 crore a month.

“The collections have improved since the introduction of these buses because of their optimum use and also because Tata and Leyland are responsible for their maintenance,” he said. “This means there are fewer breakdowns and more buses on roads.”

With the decision to introduce 1,000 more low-floor buses instead of semi low-floors,the difference in cost being only Rs 2.5 lakh each bus,the government is now expecting 3,125 buses to hit the Capital’s roads by next March. The low-floor green buses cost about Rs 51 lakh each and the red air-conditioned low-floors cost about Rs 61 lakh each — after tax reductions.

Of these,2,000 buses were ordered initially last year along with a 25 per cent increase in order as per the provisions of the contract and the new lot of 1,000 is to be ordered after the Cabinet decision.

The buses will arrive in Delhi in batches from the Tata’s plant in Lucknow and Ashok Leyland’s newly set-up plant in Alwar.

“Collections should further improve once we have more buses on the road,” said DTC Managing Director Naresh Kumar. “The initial figures are good,but we will have a better picture when more low-floor buses hit the roads.”

The government has already placed a proposal with the Ministry of Urban Development for Rs 4,000 crore to procure more low-floor buses. The plan is to introduce a fleet of 8,000 buses in the city by the Games.

What makes them different
* The engine is in the rear of the bus
* Height is about 390 mm
* Fully automatic doors that do not open when the bus is in motion and can be controlled only by the driver
* Full pneumatic suspension and engine with automated transmission
* An electronic passenger messenger system with LEDs inside and outside the bus
* Seating capacity about 35 people